NERV: Angel Defense Agency
by Rei Ronin
Summary: Rewrite of the series. Action and romance abound! Third story chapter up!
1. The Birth of NERV

This is a work of fanfiction containing elements from Heavy Gear, Shogo: Mobile Armor Division, bit of Jurassic Park, X-Com, and my own story, all slammed into the frame work of Neon Genesis Evangelion. Standard disclaimer.

Subject: Angel Defense Agency

Due to the dissolution of GEHRIN, a new organization for defense against the Angels must be formed. Ideally, such an agency should be situated in the Tokai district Geo-front that GEHRIN used to occupy. The agency should also take advantage of the Magi super-computers created by Dr. Nanako Akagi. However, due to the fact that the interface system was never created, someone will need to create such a system. The agency would need to be equipped with fighting vehicles able to stand against the Angels.

Commander Gendo Ikari (Formerly of GEHRIN)

Subject: Angel Defense Agency

Commander Ikari, your proposition for a new organization has been approved. Said agency shall be known as NERV. All of GEHRIN's former personnel shall be employed. NERV will be located in the Tokai Geo-front. Furthermore, a fortress city shall be built on top of it to help defend against the Angels. NERV shall work with the UN as a Special Combat Vehicle division. Due to evidence from the Katsuragi expedition's recordings, NERV will specialize in humanoid combat vehicles. Vehicles are as listed:

          Nova Industries Gears 

          Shogo Industrial Mobile Combat Armors

Arirx Corporation Avatars 

Ingen/Lockheed Martin Evangelions

Uller Industries Raptors

The variety of combat vehicles is included to give NERV combat power against all attackers that might threaten it. The agency shall be headed by Commander Gendo Ikari. This directive is effective immediately. NERV must be ready for the Angel onslaught.

Chairman Kiel Lorenz – SEELE

            "This is excellent," mused Gendo Ikari as he sat back in his chair.

"Indeed," agreed Kozo Fuyutski, "They are sparing nothing. Interesting that they are calling on so many different companies for the fighting vehicles. One must wonder why."

"Perhaps. Now if you'll excuse me, sensei, I have to administrate." Gendo stood up and walked out the door. Kozo sat down at his desk and started pouring over the schematics for the different projects' fruit.

Manufacturer: Nova Industries

Vehicle Name: Gear Infantry Mecha (GIM)

Description: The Gear is a compact humanoid fighting vehicle designed for infantry operations. 6 models of the Gear are planned: Warrior, Cheetah, Jaguar, Mamba, Cobra, and Kodiak. Gears are powered by internal combustion engines known as V-engines. Gears are approximately twice as tall as humans. Gears are equipped with a secondary movement system for the greatest speed. The weapon selection for Gears is large, ranging from scaled-up infantry weapons, to vehicle weapons. Gears are made for anti-Cherub operations.

Manufacturer: Shogo Industries

Vehicle Name: Mobile Combat Armor (MCA)

Description: Mobile Combat Armor is a cross between a combat mecha and a hover vehicle. Power is derived from a substance known as kato. MCAs stand approx. 7 times as tall as humans. Four varieties are planned: Ordog, Enforcer, Akuma, and Predator. The MCAs should be most useful in a support role to the Gears. Also, Shogo Industries is working on a large variety of energy weapons for the MCAs.

Manufacturer: Arirx Corporation

Vehicle Name: Avatar (AVA)

Description: The Avatar is a combat biomecha made for maneuverability, speed, and offensive capability. Plans call for a system of engines capable of moving the mecha at high speeds and giving it flight capacity up to 1 mile. The Avatar is designed for anti-Angel combat but has anti-Cherub weapons integrated in its armor. AVAs are Angel-sized. Power is derived from a system that uses the manifest energy of the pilot's soul to run most of the systems. However, AVA weapons and armor rely mostly on new-generation fuel cells for power. Weapons are missile weapons, mass drivers, and energy weapons, along with exotic technology melee weapons.

Manufacturer: Ingen/Lockheed Martin

Vehicle Name: Evangelion (EVA)

Description: The Evangelion is a joint venture between two rather dissimilar companies. The EVA biomecha was created with survivability, offensive capability, and strength in mind. It is roughly the same size as an AVA, but the vehicle armor is substantially different. EVAs are designed for anti-Angel operations. EVAs draw power from umbilical cables or batteries (in emergencies). Weapons for the Evangelions are mostly scaled up infantry weapons, but also include positron weapons, and exotic technology melee weapons.

Manufacturer: Uller Industries

Vehicle Name: Raptor (RPT)

Description: The Raptor is another anti-Angel biomecha. Roughly analogous in size to both EVAs and AVAs, it is built for precision, speed, and striking power. An advanced jump jet system gives the RPT an extreme level of mobility. The RPT uses a similar power system to the AVA. The RPT armor has numerous structures and systems that can be used in infighting. Also, the RPT has a very advanced targeting suite. Weapons consist of exotic technology melee weapons, particle weapons, and mass drivers.

The old man sighed. Though the reports of the weapons sounded impressive, he knew the truth. Only the Gear project had a workable prototype. Shogo wasn't much farther behind, but both of those projects were for fighting Angel infantry: the Cherubim. While they would no doubt be important, the Cherubim could be held back by standard forces, barely. The Angels themselves, though, that was another matter. Each anti-Angel project's armor and weapons research was coming along nicely, probably due to collaboration between the three companies, but the actual biomecha were proving to be a bit more trying. Ingen had found that to be able to 'synchronize' with their entry, one had to have a very rare genetic trait. And they hadn't found a single person with that trait yet. Arirx had their own genetic troubles, but had the second problem of finding a operator that had a soul that could work with their 'enhanced' soul energy converter. The original had drained a number of test operators of their life energies in small proof-of-concept experiments. And Uller was having endless trouble with the advanced targeting computers and the soul energy converter problem. The human race could only pray that the mecha would be ready in time. Fuyutski left for his apartment. Too much was being left to chance.

 In the still darkness of the gray-haired man's office the computer screen still glowed with the specifications for the three anti-Angel mecha types.

Years would pass before the constructs would be ready. And then five would be called upon to bear the weight of responsibility for the world.

Authors Note/Rant:

I got this idea after watching the Jet Alone episode. Why in the hell would it be possible for NERV to unilaterally create the EVAs? It really makes little sense. I know there is 'justification' in the series, but it just doesn't seem right. Therefore, I decided to contract out NERV's equipment. And then I read Children of an Elder God. The Cherubim 'episode' was interesting, and with both Cherubim and Angels, the Angels would have a true army. An actually military battle was shaping up. But the EVAs, powerful as they are, simply aren't made for anti-infantry. Solution? Anti-infantry mecha. The Gears and MCAs from Heavy Gear II and Shogo: Mobile Armor Division do nicely. 

Now that I had two other mecha types, I decided to add some more anti-Angel biomecha. My story, Phoenix's Sonata provided the Avatar, and the new 'Uller Industries' provided the Raptor. The stage is set. Oh, yeah. One more thing. Pairings, while not final, are currently R/S, A/?, and ACC/ACC.


	2. Welcome to the Battlefield

"Why now!?" yelled Rob Great, Arirx Incorporated's Avatar project head. "Why'd an Angel have to attack now? Why when we were refitting the AVA armor?"

Ian Malcolm, the project head for the InGen/Lockheed Martin EVA project, smiled and stood up, his black on black clothing rustling. "Chaos theory." 

"That's your Godammed explanation for everything," commented Ritsuko Akagi, the NERV biomecha expert, "Besides, it's more the waveform theory of the universe."

The one non-adult in the room, a sixteen-year old with a slim frame, curly brown hair, and slim glasses, looked up. "Honestly, to me it seems like Murphy's Third Law: If something can go wrong, it will do so in the worst possible way."

The scientists looked at each other. The teen was right. "Ker, your obsession with those laws never seems to fail you, does it?" asked Ritsuko.

The boy smiled and shook his head. "Nope." But the grin dropped off his face almost immediately. "What are we going to do about the Angel? Ayanami can't pilot in her condition. Am I going out without armor?"

Ritsuko shook her head empathically. "No. You're the absolute last resort."

The boy eyed her strangely. 

"I mean it," declared Ritsuko, "We'll use nukes first!" _And after WWII, no nukes in Japan._

Ker's eyes widened. "I just hope the Third child doesn't take the scenic route." He thought of the 'Glass Plains', what used to be the Great Plains of the US. "Those things should never be used." He stood up. "I'll be in the cafeteria."

The scientists watched him walk out. Rob looked at Ritsuko. "You weren't serious, were you?"

"I wish I was. If Ikari's son doesn't accept…"

"Ker is dead," finished Ian, "This is bad."

As they spoke, a monitor on the wall showed the deployment of UN forces. 

"Damn! Why'd I have to lose him at a time like this? What station was he supposed to come in at?" Captain Misato Katsuragi drummed her fingers against the steering wheel of her blue Renault Alpine. The traffic she was in was not conductive for her normal driving style, something more akin to street racing than commuting. "Oh, screw this!" She reached down to check the file. "Ah!" In blatant disregard for traffic laws, she shifted her car into reverse and sped backwards to a street two intersections back. There she turned onto the street she wanted and indulged in her car's power. She was at the station in no time. She got out of the car. "Now where is he?" she asked herself, shrugging on her red uniform jacket. He wasn't anywhere to be seen. She remembered he was arriving on a train by himself. That would be easy enough to spot, even with the crowd. In fact…there it was! She walked towards the boy, who was looking very lost. Misato evaluated him as she moved towards him. He wasn't well-built, in fact he was on the scrawny side, but he was of a little above average height, and looked better in real life than in any of the photos NERV had on file. But then again, NERV's file pictures were atrocious. He was a little better looking than average, nothing more. She was about twenty feet away from him when a klaxon started sounding all over the city. 

The klaxon shut off and a recording came on over the PA: "Attention, a special state of emergency has been declared for the Kanto and Chubu regions surrounding the Tokai district. All citizens, please evacuate to your designated shelters."

Bedlam.

The boy looked around, confused, unsure of what to do. Misato bulled through the crowd to where the boy was. "Hi," she greeted cheerfully, "You must be Shinji Ikari. We meet at last."

Shinji looked at her. "Oh, hello, Sho-sa Katsuragi," he said with a slight smile on his face.

She smiled at his slip. "I'm a Chu-sa, and we stick to UN standard ranks at NERV."

"I'm sorry, Captain."

"Ahhh, Misato will do fine. It's nice to meet you."

"You too," said Shinji, shaking her hand, "Where are we going?"

Misato noticed a shadow flashing over them. "What is that?" She looked towards the sky, only to see some kind of pod burst open, and ice demon forms rain out. "Cherubim!"

Back at NERV, Ker wandered the halls, eventually walking, without his realizing it, to the hospital. _I might as well visit Ayanami while I'm here. Ker didn't know what to make of the albino girl, but she was his colleague. He figured it was good to at least be on semi-friendly terms. That was as much as he was likely to get, considering his habits at letting people close to him and her…aura, if that was the right word. It kept those who saw her as a prize in school from asking her out. Ker wasn't one of them. Oh, she was pretty, to be sure, one of the prettiest girls he had ever met, but he just wasn't attracted to her. Her beauty was just too perfect. He was attracted to humans, and more on the base of the person than the body._

He shook himself out of his musings and went up to the visitations desk. "Pilot Ker Selais to visit Pilot Rei Ayanami."

The bored receptionist hardly looked up. "Card."

Ker reached into his wallet and withdrew the security card. "Here."

The woman flicked her eyes over it before handing it back. "Try to keep your visit short. The patient requires rest."

"I will," confirmed Ker as he placed the card back in his wallet.

"Hello Ayanami."

The azure headed girl looked over at her visitor. "Hello Pilot Selais. What are you doing here?"

"I wandered into the lobby and decided to check in on you. How are you feeling?" The question was a formality. The girl had an IV in her arm. And Ker also knew what injuries she had suffered. He had been there when 00 had gone berserk.  It hadn't been a pretty scene.

"Most of my internal injuries are close to healed, but still put me in great pain. As for broken bones, my arm is all that has not knitted."

"And your eye?"

"The prognosis is for a full recovery. However, at the moment, the eye is painfully light-sensitive."

Ker let out an internal sigh. Rei had almost lost her eye in that ride. She was extremely lucky "When do they predict you will be able to return to duty?" _Jesus, I sound like the commander. _

"Within two weeks. However, Unit 00 will not be ready for four weeks."

"What about Unit 01?" inquired Ker. 

"As the tests indicated the cause to be mental instability on the part of the pilot, it is inadvisable to risk another EVA Unit. Besides, the third candidate is arriving today," stated Rei, matter-of-factly.

"So is the Third Angel," mumbled Selais, under his breath.

The normally collected girl's azlarin eyes widened. "An Angel is coming?"

Ker grimaced. "Yeah, if the scientist's calculations are right." He walked towards the door. "I should go." He snapped to attention and gave her a salute, mirror to the one he gave her before her failed activation test, before walking out the door.

It was both a curse and a blessing that most of the civilians had been quick in getting to the shelters. A blessing for those civilians that had got away, and a curse for Shinji and Misato, along with the few poor souls who didn't get into the nearly impregnable shelters. Two platoons of Cherubim had fallen on the town, and the remaining civilians had a shotgun and a Luger between them. Misato was a little better armed with her .45 cal USP, but…Gears were made for one-on-one fighting for Cherubim, and this variety had never been encountered before. No known weak spots. At least they were anthromorphic. Misato decided to go for the head, if it came to that, but her main job was to get Shinji out of here and back to NERV safely. The best way to do that was to call out the cavalry.

Misato ran Shinji towards the thickly constructed bathrooms. The ice demon Cherubim looked too large to follow them in.  Once she had secured and locked the door, she turned to Shinji. "Stay away from the door and window." Seeing the boy nod fearfully she pulled out her radio headset. "This is Operations Director Katsuragi. I have acquired the Third Child, but two platoons of unknown Cherubim are cutting off our retreat. Roll out the 1st HIFV Battalion. Bring them to my locator." 

"Roger," crackled the voice in her earpiece, "Shoulder Devils, Batt 1 moving out. ETA, five minutes." Misato sighed in relief, just as a Cherub burst through the wall heading straight for Shinji. Misato emptied her clip into it, all twenty rounds, mostly around the head and shoulders. The thing crashed into the teen but was quite dead, it's head and neck an unidentifiable mess of blue pulp. Misato ejected the spent clip and popped in fresh one. "Are you alright?"

"The most scared I've ever been, but I'll live," said the boy, shaking violently. "What was that?"

"A Cherub, one of the enemy's infantry. As you can see, they can be killed by conventional weapons. The Angels can't. And I think I got lucky with this one. Cherubim generally rip apart standard forces. NERV was created to stand against these things. We need to get you out of here. Your father wouldn't be very pleased if these things killed you."

"I'll be seeing father?"

Misato didn't respond, busy looking around. "Well, I think it's obvious that we're not safe in here, so waiting for the cavalry isn't a good idea. We'll have to run to them. Come on!" She grabbed his arm. Shinji, not wanting to die, followed her at a run to the Alpine. Misato shoved Shinji in, then vaulted across the car's hood to the driver's side. She started the car up then spun the blue vehicle around before taking off at speeds most fighter jocks would deem unsafe a thousand feet up. Her maximum altitude was only ten feet, and only after she ran over a Cherub standing on an incline. Shinji saw Cherubim slaughtering civilians everywhere he looked. Everywhere except back. When he looked back, all he saw was a Cherub flying after them with flaps of its leathery wings, intent on ripping open the metal shell of the car to get to the soft, killable center.

"Misato! There's one right behind us!"

"I see him!" The speedo jumped even higher. A UN VTOL flew towards them, firing its chain guns at the Cherub. The nimble creature merely dodged the streams of lead and tracers and ripped through the cockpit, blood on its claws as it emerged in a spray of metal fragments from the fuselage of the gunship. The gimbaled engines flipped opposite and the craft spun into the ground, detonating impressively. The Cherub kept coming. "Dammit! Where are those Gears?" screamed Misato in frustration. The Cherub swooped down and landed with a thump on the Alpine's roof.

"MISATO!" screamed Shinji in terror, "He's on us!"

"I know that!"

That was when the N2 mine went off. The car flipped from the shockwave, rolling over onto the Cherub, smashing it between pavement and car roof before flipping again and slamming up against the cliff. Misato was knocked unconscious. Shinji looked around, dazed. The sight immediately shocked him out of his stupor. The Cherub, which they had left plastered against the pavement, was getting up and lurching towards him. That monstrous clawed hand was reaching for his throat! Shinji tried to back away, but found himself out of space. Suddenly, the Cherub flew backwards, aided by about 50 high-velocity, high caliber hollowpoint rounds. And a lot of noise. Rapid-fire, auto-loading cannons have never been quiet weapons.

"Hi kid. Sorry I'm late." The Gear racked the autocannon on the left V-engine slot and grabbed the car. Servomotors whined and the Gear pushed the car back onto its wheels. "How's the Captain?"

"I think she's unconscious," responded Shinji timidly.

"I was afraid of that," groaned the pilot. The Gear's head swung back to reveal what looked like a smaller head. Then the plastrons opened, letting the pilot step out and remove his helmet. The pilot wasn't small. In fact, he was huge! The man looked like he was made of titanium, covered by a blanket of flesh. He jumped down to the ground. Other Gears ran in to establish a perimeter. As he got near the car door, Shinji noticed the pilot was holding a cylinder in his hand.

"Who are you?"

"Gunny Ed Jones. I'm the senior NCO for the Shoulder Devils' Gear forces. It's nice to meet you, Shinji Ikari." For looking like such a brute, he was a remarkably affable fellow. He put the cylinder next to Misato's ear and pulled a tab on top. There was a slight hissing sound. He then held the open container under the woman's nose. Shinji couldn't believe his eyes. Misato, unconscious until a few milliseconds ago, grabbed the beer and chugged it.

"HOO-YEAH! That's the stuff!"

Shinji looked over at the Gear pilot. "Wh…wha..?"

The big man just grinned and shrugged. "Yebisu beer. Works better than smelling salts on the Captain." 

"What happened to the Cherub?" asked Misato.

"Saw one, swatted same. We need to get you two back to NERV. The Angel is advancing, and rapidly. UN is slowing it down but…" he trailed off. It wasn't necessary to finish the sentence. 

"How many Gears have we lost?"

"Only five. We've killed about 50 Cherubim. We were only able to deploy Baker Company and the command squad."

"What happened to the others?" 

"Bunch of downchecks for Able, and we just didn't have enough V-engine fuel." He put his helmet back on. "We'd better get going." Misato nodded as Jones climbed into his cockpit. The Gears all went onto the road and engaged their SMSs. The convoy sped off. 

"Oh. My. God." Shinji stared, transfixed by the demonic face of Unit 01. "Is this what my father was doing?"

"Correct," rang Gendo Ikari's voice from an observation box, "It's been a while Shinji."

"Father," Shinji whispered. 

"I have a need of you." 

"What? What is it?" Trepidation was easy to read, radiating as it was from Shinji.

"I need you to pilot Unit 01," he nodded towards the biomecha, "And defeat the Angel."

"How can I do that? I've never even seen that thing before!"

"You have the ability, and our crews will instruct you."

"No father! I can't! I just can't!" Shinji looked down at the deck. "There's no way."

Gendo grimaced and opened a channel to Kozo. "Wake up Rei."

"Can she pilot? Shouldn't we use Selais?"

"She might survive long enough to kill the Angel. Selais would be slaughtered before he got within 200 meters without armor. Do it."

The channel changed to sound only. "Rei, you will have to pilot."

"Yes sir." The channel clicked off

_I'm sorry Rei._

Ritsuko shook her head. "Reconfigure Unit 01 for Rei, then activate! We don't have much time! She'll be here in a couple of minutes, and we can't waste any time waiting for the Angel." 

"Roger. Loading the First Child's profile." 

The sound of a gurney running over metal decking soon filled the room, along with a boy's shout. "She's here!"

"Good. Ker, please escort this boy out." Ker handed the IV drip he was holding to a nurse and walked over to Shinji. His gauntleted hand grabbed Shinji's shoulder.

"Come on." Shinji wouldn't move. Ker pulled at him again, his flight suit's armored pieces grinding against one another.

"Is she going…going to f…fight like that?"

"Yes," answered the Gypsy boy, "She'll probably die too."

"Th…then what?"

"I go out. And probably die."

An explosion shook the building. Shinji looked at the girl, bandaged and gasping from pain, struggling to sit up. "Why?"

"Because you won't. Don't really blame you."

"No. No. I can't."

"Every human can fight. It's just a matter of how well." Another explosion rocked the chamber. This time, lights started falling, some into the coolant, but others towards Shinji. The tremors were also strong enough to knock over the gurney and the nurses. One fell into the coolant. The other was not so lucky. She fell backwards and got her neck caught in between two ladder rungs before flipping towards the liquid. A sickening crack marked the end of her life. "Dammit!" yelled the suited teen as he dove out of the way, abandoning Shinji to his fate. Only after he started his dive did he realize what he had done. The lights would crush the other boy. But they didn't. The EVA's arm ripped out of its restraints, heralding its arrival with the shriek of rending metal. The lights shattered on its armored surface. A few pieces arced into Ker's back, sending him sprawling with a grunt of pain. Another trashed the gurney.

Shinji ran over to the girl. To do what, he didn't know. He gathered the azure-headed girl up in his arms. She gasped in pain as Shinji felt a warm liquid coat his hand and forearm. Selais dashed over. "She's going to die, she's going to die, she's going to…"

"Die, if she goes out." The curly haired boy took the girl from the other boy. "I'll get her to the med wing. You kill that Angel." He stood up, wincing in pain.

"Will you be alright? You got hit."

"Man, I'm wearing more armor than most tanks have. I'll be fine. Just get moving." He moved out of the room at a good pace, careful not to jostle the girl too much.

Shinji looked up at his father, who had just regained his composure after nearly jumping forward when he saw what had happened to Rei. It was something no one had seen. "All right, I'll do it!"

Gendo gave a tight smile. "Prepare Unit 01 for Pilot Ikari."

Shinji marveled at the cockpit. The ergonomics were very good and the butterfly handles were perfectly placed so his hands fell right on them. He didn't quite get how he was supposed to control the thing with just the two handles, though. And what was the point of the headband they made him wear, with the two plastic…things on them?

"Filling the entry plug."

A liquid started rising towards him. That worried him. "Hey what is…" he held his breath.

"Don't worry," said Ritsuko, "Once your lungs are filled with LCL, your blood will be oxygenated directly. You'll get used to it."

"Ugh. I think I'm going to be sick."

"Stop complaining!" yelled Misato.

"Begin pilot/EVA sync, Maya," ordered Ritsuko.

"Yes ma'am."

"Aoba, check on all mechanical systems."

"Yes ma'am."

"Pilot sync ratio at 43.56%. Harmonics look normal."

"Power connected, all combat computers up, internal batteries fully charged. Diagnostics are…at 84%"

"Hyuuga, how's the weapons delivery system?"

"No good, Captain. He'll have to make do with the pistol and progressive knife."

"Shit. Ritsuko?"

"The EVA is ready for launch, Captain, coolant already drained away."

"Right. Shinji, you ready?"

"I guess…"

"Good. Start pre-launch!"

"Roger. Remove primary lock bolts."

"Removed."

"Remove secondary lock bolts."

"Removed."

"Remove the umbilical bridge."

"…Removed."

"Confirm all locks removed?"

"Confirmed. Evangelion gantry is mobile."

"Launch path, Captain?" 

"A34."

"Move EVA 01 to launch pad 34. Clear track A."

"Track A clear. EVA 01 locked on the launch pad."

"Understood. All ready, Captain."

"We're here," announced Ian Malcolm as he walked in with the project other project heads and Ker.

"Good," sighed Misato, "Dr. Malcolm, please assist Dr. Akagi. Ker, get ready to instruct the pilot. Here's a headset."

"Thanks." Ker moved up to a holoscreen next to Makoto. "Can you switch this over to a dedicated com line? Thanks," he said as Shinji's face appeared. "How ya feeling?"

"Sick."

"Liquid environments can do that. I'll be your voice of reason on this ride. Now, we'll be using the weapon draw control setup. Basically, to draw the knife, pull the left control back, then push it forward. Pistol is the same, except with the right. To fire the pistol, pull the right trigger. Left trigger will throw your knife. Don't do that. Aiming is automatic. All other controls are neural."

"What?"

 "What you think of doing, the EVA will do."

"I'm not sure I can do this."

"It'll be just like using your own body. Word of warning. Ayanami told me that her balance seems a little strange whenever she pilots. You'll have to compensate for a while by hunching over. She said it feels normal after a while, though."

"No. I can't really fight."

"I already said it. Every human can fight, it's just a matter of how well. You ready?"

"I guess."

"All ready here, Captain!"

"Right. EVA LAUNCH!" 

The electromagnets fired, throwing EVA 01 up to the surface. Shinji looked around, only to see buildings on either side.

"Time to rock kid. Draw your pistol and kill that freak!"

Shinji drew the pistol and edged clumsily out around the corner of the building. The Angel just stood, seemingly waiting for a fight. Shinji put the pistol out around the corner, using the camera slung under the barrel to target. Shinji's finger convulsed twice, the gun booming the same number of times. Blue blood spurted from the Angel's wounds. 

But the massive XT was not fazed. It walked steadily towards Shinji's hiding place, jewel-like points in its 'palms' glowing. Light flashed in the black holes that passed for eyes for the monster and the building Shinji was using for cover disappeared in a cross-shaped explosion.

"Thumb triggers!" Shinji's thumbs followed Ker's order. The EVA leapt into the air on its shoulder pylon-mounted jump jets. The Angel's one-two beam lance combo speared through the air, just missing the purple EVA's feet. Shinji pumped the rest of the pistol's clip into the Angel's face as he gained altitude. The EVA automatically dropped the pistol. A thud came through the comlink. Ker's fist hitting the console. "Damn. Those hits are doing nothing! Go for the red orb!"

"Right." Shinji's arm pumped the left butterfly grip and immediately flipped the knife backwards. He dashed at the Angel, slashing as he came into range. Blue blood spurted from the three new gashes in the Angel's hide, spraying onto the purple-painted alloy of the EVA's armor.

"The orb!"

"I know!" Shinji reversed his grip on the knife again and stabbed it towards the red jewel.

The Angel was having none of this. It thrust its long right arm at the EVA and fired the beam lance. Shinji back-jumped it, as before, staying in the air for an extended hop. Points of light flashed in the eyes of the beast. Shinji quickly let off on one of the thumb triggers, feathering the output from one of the jet systems. The EVA's predictable arc curved off to the side, out of the way of the cone of energy that cored right through where the EVA would've been.

"Nice j…SHIT!" The energy cone suddenly burst out cross-pieces, one of them trashing one of Shinji's jump-jet arrays by ripping off the shoulder pylon. It had been the array at full power.

"AHHH!" screamed Shinji as he shot towards the street, unbalanced by the loss of most of his thruster power and the mass the system had put on his left shoulder. The EVA plowed into the street, ripping up pavement as it slid to a halt. The Angel used its own form of jumping to quickly cover the distance, only to find its core spitted on landing by the Bowie-style mk. 1 progressive knife. Shinji soon found a -huge-cross-shaped explosion to be the only thing on his knife. Breathing hard, he brought the EVA to it's feet.

"See, I told you," said the other teen over the com system, "Any human can fight, it's just a matter of how well. And -you-, have nothing to worry about," he finished, pointing at the Japanese boy.

The corners of Shinji's mouth turned up.

When Shinji finally got out of the showers he saw another boy waiting for him. With a start, he realized it was the boy…'Ker', who had spoken to him. He was still wearing the slim pair of glasses, but his face was wearing a sardonic smirk, almost as if he was greatly amused with the whole of Creation. It was a far cry from the faces he had been wearing earlier. So was what he was wearing. Not much could be farther from the veritable suit of armor he was wearing earlier than a school uniform and a fairly thin dark-blue jacket.

"Hey," said the curly-haired boy as he pushed himself off the wall he had been leaning on and walked towards the shorter boy. "I'm Ker Selais."

"Shinji Ikari."

"So, you staying?"

Shinji looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Will you keep on piloting that thing? I don't mind telling you that you do a great job." He chuckled a bit. "It does pay, by the way."

"I don't know."

The other boy looked uncomfortable. "You do know you are one of the few people in the world even capable of piloting that thing?"

"What?"

"Well, you know about Second Impact, right?"

"Of course. When the aliens came into this world."

"Right. Well, you know how we -stopped- their first offensive, right?"

"Thermonuclear weapons."

"Exactly. And that ended up doing us more harm then them. It'll be fifty years before any human can live in the affected zones."

"Most of the Americas."

"Yeah. And they can live there. So we created a cleaner solution to getting rid of them. Things like the EVA, biomecha. Interestingly enough, no human older than 16 can control even one of the projects, and the controllers are exceedingly rare among even us."

"So, I'm needed?"

"Pretty much, yeah." The gypsy boy changed his expression to a smile. "Though, you'll probably be safest in a biomecha. I have doubts about the shelters."

"I guess I will," confirmed Shinji uneasily.

The other boy produced a mag swipe card. "And here's your ID. At least, your temporary one. So, you need anything?"

"Is the girl alright?"

"You mean Ayanami? I really don't know. It seemed that she'd be alright. We can go see her if you want."

"Yes, please."

And…they're off! To visit Rei that is. NERV: ADA has begun. God knows when it will stop. The world is no longer the same, and the characters are different too. So, REVIEW! Thank you!

See ya!


	3. The Speed of One's Soul

Work of fanfiction, folks! Just like 99.9% of this site's content!

NERV: ADA

"Hey, Selais?" asked Shinji as the two teens walked towards the NERV hospital, "Is Ayanami your girlfriend?"

The other boy laughed. "Now why would you think that? And call me Ker." 

"It seemed like you were pretty concerned for her."

"Yeah. But she's a fellow pilot, ne? A comrade. No way in hell could she be my girlfriend."

"Why? If you don't mind, that is."

"I don't know. I'm just not attracted to her. I know she's pretty, no doubt about that, but nothing calls to me. Besides, she'd definitely turn me down." The last sentence was definitely in a more humorous tone than the rest of the answer.

The boys got into an elevator. "Sel…Ker, how did Ayanami get injured?"

The other boy closed his eyes and contemplated a memory stored in his mind. "An activation test went bad, and she was ejected, inside. It wasn't pretty."

Shinji started to second-guess his choice to stay. The rest of the elevator ride passed in silence.

"I'm going to stay out here," said Ker. "Remember what the doctor said." 

Shinji nodded. "I won't stay long." He stepped into the room and walked over to the bed in which the girl lay. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was even and regular. Shinji couldn't think of any other explanation: she was asleep. "Oh." He turned around to walk out the door.

"Why are you here?" asked a quiet voice.

Shinji nearly jumped through the ceiling. "Ayanami?"

"Why are you here?" repeated the albino.

"I don't know."

This confused the girl slightly. She remained silent, waiting to see if the boy would elaborate.

He did. "I mean…I guess I felt like I should check on you. See if you were…alright," he uneasily clarified, "I mean, well, I only got into that thing so you didn't have to." Though he was addressing the ruby-eye girl in his mode of speech, it almost seemed as if he was talking to himself. "I didn't want you to die."

"Why? You do not know me." She sat up.

"It wouldn't be right. I couldn't let that happen."

"Your words are confusing."

"I'm sorry. I'll leave."

"Yes, the doctors do not like me to be sitting up," she lay back down, "but I think I would like to continue this conversation in the future."

"Oh…okay." Shinji walked out of the room feeling confused, just like the blue-haired girl.

"He's living alone?"

Ritsuko looked over at her old college friend. "He didn't seem to want to live with his father. I guess being apart is natural to them."

"He shouldn't have to live on his own though!"

"Why not? Both Ker and Rei do."

"Rei didn't have a choice, and Ker asked to."

"Shinji doesn't have a choice either. Besides, they seem fine with it."

"Maybe. But I don't think Shinji should live alone."

"We could have him move in with Ker," she motioned to a video monitor, "They seem to be getting along nicely."

"Ker likes living alone. But maybe…I've got to go Rits!" yelled the purple-haired woman as she jumped up and dashed out the door. 

"What are you doing!?" shouted the short-haired woman after her friend's retreating back.

"Hey, Shinji."

"What?"

"Sorry, man but I have to go."

"What for?"

"Combat practice. I have it three days a week, for three hours, intensive simming. Monday, Wednesday, Friday."

"When do I have to do that?"

"Don't know. You're schedule will probably get worked out in a few weeks." Ker's cell phone rang. "Yeah?…Yes, he's right with me…Junction 34…Right." He ended the call. "That's suspiciously good timing."

"What is?"

"Captain Katsuragi wants to see you. I don't know why. She'll be here in a minute or two. I've really got to be going."

"Okay. Goodbye, Ker-k…san."

"-kun works just fine, Shinji. See ya." As Ker walked towards the locker rooms, one thought flashed through his divided mind: _Shinji, you'll go far or fall early. Let's make it the first, my friend. _

As Ker walked into the locker room, he shucked his upper body clothes, leaving his torso bare. A few scars marred his skin. He removed the last of his clothes and put on the skinsuit that was the first layer of his piloting garb. The leg armor went on over that, snapping onto the matte-black bodysuit. He stepped into the boots, then started to work on the waist and stomach plates, a time-consuming task.

"Need help?"

"Raziel! How many times are you going to do that?"

"Complaining?"

"I could've been naked," replied Ker, to the 18-year old who looked as if she should be Ms. Middle East.

"Come on, how long have we known each other?" asked the Israeli girl in a teasing tone.

"Since you came on the project. Four years."

"And I've seen you naked how many times?"

"Zero."

"Right. And I'm feeling cheated," she finished with a smirk on her picture perfect face.

Ker laughed and put on the rest of the body armor and slid on the armor sleeves. He absent-mindedly looked at the open palms of the gauntlets. "Too bad." He sighed. "God, I'll be glad when I get the new flight suit."

"You won't look like a knight in shining armor."

"I don't now," laughed Ker, "No, I'll look like some black-ops agent." He walked past her to the door to the simulators.

"Ker."

He turned around. "Ehh?"

She smiled, holding his helmet. "You forgot this." She put it on his head and raised the visor.

He smiled. "Thanks. We'd better get to our respective posts." 

She nodded and he walked out of the room. She, however, stayed. _Damn. She shambled over to the bench and sat down. _Why, why, why? Why didn't I?__

_You know. You're a coward. You don't have the guts, little girl._

_Shut up! Besides, why him? He's not that great! He isn't even really good-looking!_

_But he's smart, funny, and he's a pilot. You want him. And there's nothing you can do about that fact._

_Shut up._

_No. Just try to get him. I guarantee you'll get him. And you'll be happy._

_FINE!_

"Where the hell is Raziel?" asked Rob, "She knows that today is her day for ranged weapons data. Fuck. Call the NERV tech, what's her name? Ibuki."

A man with long azure hair put his hand on the scientist's shoulder. "Don't. We don't need the data. You know the simulator data for ranged weapons is shit."

"Dammit, Kit…"

"You know I'm right."

"Yeah."

"You also know there's really no point for us to even be doing this."

"We need to build up a combat profile on him."

The ex-marine scoffed. "Combat profile? I can tell you it right now. High-speed combat, aerial combat, orbital combat. In every one of those situations, he will destroy whatever his target is."

"Confident in him, aren't you?" asked the less deadly man, looking over at his friend annoyedly.

"But of course," he said, smiling. His expression shifted however, to a much more serious look. "Look, you know how I can fight. Perfect soldier and all that shit. He just might be the next one."

"Pfft. I know he's good, but I think you're underestimating the Angels. The AVA is the perfect anti-Angel weapon, but it still needs a pilot."

"Now you're the one being arrogant. Load the dammed simulation, he's ready."

"Fine, we'll be doing an endurance test today, duration: six hours."

"You are a bastard sometimes, Rob, you know that, right? A six hour sortie?"

"Saving the world here, Veras."

"And making big corporate money."

"Mr. Selais! Pay attention! Second Impact has greatly affected you generation, so you should have a vested interest in what I'm telling you! You need to know this cataclysmic event affects your life seriously!" yelled the rather old teacher at Ker, who though he was not asleep, might as well have been.

"No shit," mumbled Ker through his arms. No one heard him. _Second Impact is the reason I'm this damn tired. Soul is at about 45%. "Yes sir," he grumbled, trying to hoist himself upright. No good. He flopped back down on the desk, but the teacher was already looking out the window, going on with his lecture._

It was the same stuff every day! Well, it wasn't quite the same lecture, but it was on the same basic subject. And it was as pointless as learning to defend yourself from a person armed with a piece of fresh fruit. Someday, Kensuke was sure, he would snap, and walk up to the teacher, bang his notes on the teacher's desk, and yell, "THIS IS AN EX-LECTURE!" 

Not today though. He was worried about Touji. Or, more accurately, worried about what he would do to the new kid, uh…Ikari! Touji was already convinced Ikari was the pilot of the giant robot, and Touji's sister had been badly burned by the blast of the thing's jets. Ikari was going to get it. Touji wasn't top jock for nothing.

Whack! Shinji went flying to the ground. "Ohhh…"

"Stupid pilot! You nearly killed my sister! You're supposed to save us, not hurt us!" He pulled Shinji to his feet and knocked him down again. "You hear me pilot boy!? Huh!? You protect us, right, you bastard!? **YOU HEAR ME PILOT BOY!?"**

At his last shout, nearly fifty kids ran over to where Shinji lay, pushing Touji aside in one confused moment, showering Shinji in attention.

Rei, recently released from the hospital, glided into the crowd, and knelt down beside him, assessing his injuries. She looked up at the crowd and spoke: "Pilot Ikari is injured, and requires medical attention. I will take him to the nurse's office. Please disperse."

Strangely, they did, even Touji.

"Ayanami?" asked Shinji of the azure-haired girl.

"Yes."

Another person joined them, the obviously-fatigued Ker. "No time for the nurse's office. We've got an incoming Angel. Alarms will be going off in a few minutes. C'mon." The three pilots walked off for the school's exit.

Kensuke watched them walk off. "That's not the way to the nurse's office…" he said to himself. Then the Angel alarms went off, and the thought was put on back burner as he scrambled for the school's shelter.

Shinji helped Ker put the armor on over the American teen's black skinsuit. "Thanks Shinji," said Ker as he put his helmet under his arm. 

"Will you be okay?"

"Yeah. I'm a little down on soul energy, but that nap in class helped. Hey, after this is over, get me invited to Misato's party, huh?"

"How?"

"Did I know you were living with the captain?" Ker smiled. "Dr. Akagi was ranting about it for a long time. I'll try to make the fight entertaining for you guys in the control room, okay?"

"Just kill it."

"Right, Shinji. See ya." Ker walked out the door.

At about the same time, Kensuke and Touji were in the men's bathroom of the shelter.

"Okay, what's so vitally important to talk about?"

"I need your help to open the shelter's blast door."

"WHAT!?"

"Quiet! I gotta see it, just once."

"You're going to get yourself killed."

"I rather die out there than in here. These things won't really protect us, just draw out our deaths. Besides. You hit that pilot pretty hard, twice. He saved the city."

"Maybe," admitted Touji grudgingly

"So doesn't that make it your obligation to watch?"

"I give up. You'll do anything to get what you want, won't you?"

Kensuke snickered.

"Ker, your soul energy levels are low. Under 65%. Is something wrong?" asked Misato. 

"No, ma'am." The pilot sat in his seat, visor open, and hands wrapped around a pair of joysticks.

"We can't send him out like this. Why are his levels so low?"

Rob looked up. "Oh, that. We did an endurance test yesterday. He was at ten percent at the end."

Misato grimaced. "No more endurance tests. We need him at a fighting level."

"How high?" asked Veras.

"75% or over."

"Okay. Hey Ker?"

"Sensei?"

Veras then demonstrated why he had been a very successful drill sergeant for a while. Shinji was cowering at the end of the tirade. "Now go kill that Angel you maggot!"

The AVA blasted up its launch tube, breaking Mach 1.

"What the hell did you do?" asked Misato.

"Oh, that?" asked Veras pleasantly, "I just boosted his energy levels by pissing him off. Temporary fix. He'll be ready to fight when he stops the supersonic stuff, but he'll be rather irritable. Don't talk to him too much. He's got quite a mouth on him."

Misato just looked at Ker's combat instructor with a disbelieving look.

The AVA hovered over the city. "Okay, you angelic bastard," he asked, eyes scanning the cityscape, "where are you?"

"AWESOME!" exclaimed Kensuke, "This really paid off! Hey, wait. That's a different one from last time."

"Yeah. It kinda looks like the robot from that game of yours."

"ZOE 2? Yeah."

"There you are!" crowed Ker as he pulled the AVA's pulse pistols from the thigh containers. He emptied the paired pistols into the squid-crustacean with a multitude of sonic booms and the whining of high-power capacitors. It did nothing to the Angel. _Damn. If only the particle weapons were ready, this would be over right now. Well, time to do this Shinji's way. _He cut the thrusters and dropped to the streets.

"Cool, cool, cool!" yelled Kensuke as the AVA drew a pair of knives and boosted at the Angel, which had drawn itself up and deployed what looked like whips of energy. The Angel wrapped one of them around one of the biomecha's knives, ripping it out of Ker's fist. Ker willed his AVA to draw another one and flung the one in his right hand at the Angel. The Angel batted it out of the air with one of its whips, sending it flying towards Touji and Kensuke. They yelled and dove to the side as the monolithic knife stabbed into the hillside where they had been standing.

"Damn!" cursed Ker as the Angel's whips lashed his last knife away, destroying the handle. _I gotta get another one! _His eyes flicked to the side, noting the position of the weapon on a hillside, slightly out of the city. "There!" His acute situational awareness brought him back to his enemy's attack. He ducked under it and boosted backwards, transitioning to low altitude flight. He rode plumes of thruster fire towards the hillside, the AVA flying on it's back, in a horizontal arc towards the waiting knife. He reached down to grab the knife on the fly, not wanting to make another pass. That was when he saw them. Two civilians, cowering behind the knife. If he flew over them, the thruster flame would burn them to ashes. There wasn't even time to brake!

Touji and Kensuke screamed as the biomecha came flying in at them, thrusters blazing with over the combined output of all the UN armed forces' jet engines. _I'm going to get killed by that thing, just like my sister was hurt! _thought Touji. Kensuke was rooted to the spot, the camera still focused on their incoming death, not that it would survive the superheated windstorm, almost half as powerful as those created by the detonation of an atomic bomb.

And then, every engine, main and vernier, suddenly went dead. The thirty-seven story fighting machine plowed into the hillside, ripping a huge furrow in the earth, coming to a halt right in front of the frightened teens.

"Those fucking idiots!" screamed Ker. He had managed to move everything so it wouldn't be snapped off by the fall, but it had been close. He didn't think he would've lost the articulated main thruster pods as the pylons they were on had some of the best structural integrity in the whole biomecha, but if he did…ANGEL!

Ker snap-rose to grab the energy whips that slashed down at him, but he couldn't really get up and fight, for fear of crushing the two humans on the hillside. "Damn!"

"Ker, let them into the cockpit!"

"Yes Captain! Opening now!" Ker's left hand shot towards the holographic display floating in the AGAL and manipulated the immaterial display. The cockpit obviously jerked backward, the screens went dark, and the hatch above Ker opened. He could hear something being shouted over the loudspeakers mounted on the shoulder armor. Soon he heard two splashes.

"What the…water!?"

"My camera, my camera!"

"It's AGAL, now shut up and be thankful for your lives!" The cockpit shot back into the AVA's upper back and the screens came alive again. Ker rolled the pair of battling titans over, trying to crush the Angel under the AVA's weight. It didn't work. The Angel flipped the pair back over, it's energy whips still searing through the AVA's gauntlets. "Damn you, die!" Ker kicked the Angel in the lower body, releasing the whips as he did so. The Angel went flying over the city.

"Ker! Retreat and drop the students off!"

"Hell no, Captain! I'm going to kill that thing!"

"You're hands are damaged, and you have no weapon left! You crushed the knife!"

"I don't fucking care! And I'm not out of weapons!" The thrusters came alive again and the AVA flew at the once again upright Angel.

"Come on, retreat! Please!" pleaded the two teens behind Ker.

"SHUT UP!" The Avatar stopped just in front of the Angel, which switched tactics. The two whips speared at Selais's mecha's head. He barely moved to the side and caught them in his left fist, making a motion that would snap them, had they been a forearm. Then he delivered a powerful jab with his right arm to where the Angel's gut would be, before snapping the arm up in such a way that the elbow hit the Angel's core.

If the Angel had legs, it would have staggered back in pain. Ker had found the one soft spot in the Angel's defense, and what a spot it was! The Angel's skin couldn't be penetrated by many attacks, but the core, the very life of the Angel, it was wide open to attack. The dazed Angel floated back unsteadily.

"And now it dies." The AVA went into a swordsman's stance and a slim, curved case on its left hip flipped up parallel to the ground. Explosive charges fired, exposing a handle. Ker's left hand shot down to behind the handle's guard, while his right hovered just above the handle. The left thumb flicked the guard, and the right pulled the sword out blazingly fast, assisted by thrusters.

Just as the Angel recovered, the AVA shot into the sky, flipped, and shot back down in a two-handed blow straight out of A Meji Swordsman Romantic Tale*. The bisected Angel fell in two halves. 

"Got you." _Mom, Dad, I killed it._ The Avatar fell to one knee, supporting itself with the powered-down sword. In the cockpit, Ker fell back onto his seat, unconscious. Touji and Kensuke came around to look at the pilot.

"Selais?" they both asked, then looked at each other.

"Well, he's up, but he doesn't have much energy," said the doctor to Misato, "I suppose I can allow visitors. Honestly, I've never quite seen anything like it. Strangest case of exhaustation I've ever seen." 

"Thank you." The doctor walked off. "Okay boys, you can go see him," she told Shinji, Touji, and Kensuke.

They nodded their thanks and entered the hospital room.

"Hey Shinji," greeted Selais from his bed. He was sitting against a large stack of pillows. "Aida, Suzihara." He nodded to them.

Touji looked embarrassed. "Kensuke and me, wanted to say we were sorry for nearly getting us all killed there."

"Yeah, and thanks for saving us," said the sandy-haired teen, scratching the back of his head.

"I know it's not much," admitted Touji, "But want to be friends from now on?"

The Gypsy grinned. "Yeah, sure, but no more attacking Shinji, and no mention of my job, okay?"

"Sure."

"No problem. By the way, turns out my camera is waterproof. I've got the whole thing on tape. You were amazing." He put the disk on the bedside table.

"Heh. Hey, Suzihara, what's with the bruise on your cheek?"

Shinji kicked at the floor. "Touji made me punch him."

"Yeah, and thanks again for getting my sister into NERV's hospital."

"It was the least I could do. Will you be alright Ker?"

"I'll be out of school for a couple of days, but I'll be fine. Oh, and Shinji?"

"Yeah?"

"Cancel the invitation to the party."

Shinji chuckled and walked out the door, followed by the other two Japanese boys.

Ker hadn't even gotten around to closing his eyes before another person walked into the room.

"Hi Ker."

"Hey Raziel." Ker sat back up. "What's up?"

"I wanted to thank you for saving us all." She moved over to the side of the bed.

"Part of the job. Besides, if I hadn't won, Shinji would've." He yawned.

"You look really tired," she observed, moving her face closer to his.

"Twelve percent," he admitted with a weary grin.

 She stood up. "Then I'd better let you sleep." _Coward.___

He nodded as she walked towards the door. "Yeah, that'd be good. Oh, tell Ben I won't be there for a couple of days."

"Right. I just wish I didn't have to listen to him talk about his little sister."

"According to him, she's so innocent, that I question if she was even born. See ya, Raz."

"Bye." She opened the door, then turned around. "Hey, Ker?"

"Hmm?" The now-prone Gypsy turned his head to face her.

"Good job out there." _Coward.__ She walked out the door._

And the latest Angel assault is fended off by Shinji's first Tokyo-3 friend. Ker and the Avatar have passed their baptism of fire. One must wonder, what is with his parents, why he's so dense with Raziel, and where he picked up the Ryutsutien. With two Angels defeated, attention for the pilots shifts to their other life, that of sophomores in Tokyo-3 High School. But soon, two new pilots will join the ranks. What will happen then? Find out next time, on NERV: ADA!

No, Misato, there won't be any fan service. 

--God, I love my pre-reader. Anyway, Ker is _not _a master of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu, but the attack was to perfect to pass up. By the way, my resolution for the new year is to respond to all signed reviews with good advice and questions in them. So, review! Flames will be dealt with by means of the Shoulder Devils HIFV Battalion.


	4. 3 New Girls, School, an Arcade, and Patr...

Work of fanfiction that is making me precisely no money. Don't sue.

NERV: ANGEL DEFENSE AGENCY

"We didn't need this new paint job," grumbled an admiral, looking at the bright red, arterial blood the dying Angel had sprayed all over the _George Washington_'s flight deck. The seaswere equally red, dyed by the life blood of an alien entity. He sighed and raised his binoculars. The EVA had done its job, if messily. It was time for clean-up. Scanning the flight deck of the _Kiev_,_ he saw tracer fire spraying out at fast-moving beasts. Cherubim and the Gears made to kill them. _

A Gear fired a large autocannon into a cluster of the ice-demon Cherubim, far and away the most common type. But certainly not the only. As the Frosties, as the Gear pilots called them, died in a maelstrom of 3-cm bullets, another Cherub tried to blindside the Gear. It was an Eddy. Wicked metal claws in the place of fingers, extremely long arms, and a vicious segmented tail gave it the appearance of an Alien with the hands of Edward Scissorshands. It was about double as nasty in melee fighting as fighting a pair of samurai when you were armed with a tanto. And that was when you were in a Gear.

The Eddy moved in close enough to render the cannon's fire useless. The cannon still had a lot of mass, though. Proved when the Gear batted the Cherub off of the deck. The Eddy's partner however, sprang from behind a pile of corpses, robotic and organic alike, and jammed both sets of claws into the V-engine. Both combatants went up in the ensuing blast.

"Last straw," proclaimed the admiral as he lowered his binoculars again. "Get me the CAG."

"Yes sir! Alright boys, form up on me. We're going to do a bit of strafing. Rockets, then guns." The CAG banked his F-22D and set up for an attack run on the _Kiev's deck. The supersonic fighters had proved to be very effective at sweeping the skies of Cherubim. Since missiles and stealth were of limited utility against Cherubim, the fighters were refitted with large internal ammo stores, replacing the original missile bays and pylonsunder the wings carrying rocket pods. The CAG, callsign Boxer, bared his teeth in a feral grin as he selected rockets for his first run. He placed the pipper on the deck and throttled back. Gears leapt to other ships, raining death upon the deck as they arced up and away to the other ships in the fleet._

Then the fighter run began. Rockets streamed in sheets towards the deck. Death covered the deck. And then came the gun pass. Blood of all colors spattered the torn-up deck.

It was nice out, reflected Raziel. And heck, it was also probably good for her not to see Ker for a couple of days.

"Oooh, Cohen, that out fit does nice things for your body. Though personally, I don't see the point in wrapping art."

Yasamoto. She hated Yasamoto. Thankfully, salvation was at hand. "Hey Raz!" Ben did have that uncanny knack for showing up at the right time, and his sunny disposition was generally welcome. Even if he did have that annoying habit…

"Hey Ben. What's up?"

"Not much. You seen Ker?"

"He's going to be out for a while. Couple of days."

"Always when I need to ask him a favor."

"Can I help?"

"No. My little sister is coming into town soon, and I figured since I wouldn't be there that I'd ask him to show her around. You know, someone her age."

Raziel stood slack-jawed. _Ker's 16.__ Isn't he say, 17 years too old to be her age? "Why?"_

"Well, you know. She's just so sweet and innocent. I don't want her to be all alone. I mean, someone might try to take advantage of her…"

_I walked right into that one. _

"…and I trust Ker enough not to do anything like that. Besides, if she needs protection, he's hardly a bad choice, right?"

_You have no idea._

"I guess I just don't want her to get hurt. You know…"

Yep, his habit was really annoying. That little sister of his had to be the most sheltered child on the planet. Smile and nod, smile and nod.

"Hey Shinji. Who you looking at?" asked Kensuke as he leaned back against the embankment Touji and Shinji had been resting against after finishing their run. "I know Touji's looking at the class rep."

"Shut up!" yelled a crimson-cheeked Touji.

"But who are you looking at?"

"No one!" lied a blushing Shinji.

Both Touji and Kensuke sighed. "Shinji, every boy in the class is looking at some girl or another up at the pool," Touji informed Shinji. "You can at least tell us who you think is hot. Come on."

"Ayanami," answered Shinji meekly. "She doesn't seem to have any friends."

"You're right," mused Touji, "She doesn't. She's on speaking terms with Sel…Ker, but as for friends, I don't think she has any."

"She's pretty quiet though," said Kensuke, "almost as if she likes being a loner."

"Hey, if you want our help in getting together with her, we're here for ya."

Shinji blushed again. "I probably won't be asking for that."

"Right," drawled the two other Japanese teens.

"Captain?"

"Yes, what is it Gunny?" asked Misato as she put her feet up on the piles of paperwork on her desk.

"Ma'am, you're wearing a skirt," pointed out the Gear pilot.

"Heh heh. Whoops." Misato took her legs down and leaned forward, duplicating the Commander's trademark pose. "So what is it?"

"That's really creepy."

"Awww, big, bad Gear pilot scared of me?"

"Just the pose," sweatdropped Ed.

"What? Oh!" Misato switched poses again. She stretched out and put her hands behind her head. "Carry on."

"Well, did you notice how there weren't any Cherubim? With the last Angel, I mean."

"You complaining about not getting anything to do?"

"Hell no. But the other two Angels we've encountered recently have had large entourages of Cherubim…"

"Wait, other two Angels?"

"The fleet delivering Lockheed/Ingen's Unit 02 came under Angel attack."

"How bad were the losses?"

"Four battleships, ten cruisers, a carrier, six destroyers, four fleet tenders, the transport ship, thirty-seven Gears, and God-knows-how-many people. Oh yeah, and the _Kiev_is almost a gutted hulk. But there were a bunch of Cherubim with it. None with Mr. Energy Whips. That leads to the question: Where are they?"

"Damn."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Right. Send out patrols in the general area, try and find those things. If you do find them, kill them. Kill em with a passion."

"Right. We'll get right on it."

"And station a rapid deployment squad near each pilot residence and the school. I want you on those squads."

"Yes ma'am."

"Keep those kids safe. You know what they're worth."

"Yeah. And I gotta say, I kinda like the two guys. Don't worry about them. Excuse me." The big Gear pilot walked out of Misato's office.

"Hey, Shinji."

"Yes Misato?" Shinji looked up from his homework. "What is it?"

"Ker's on the phone." She handed the cordless to him.

"Moshi moshi?"

"Hey Shinji. What's up?"

"I'm doing homework."

"He spot checks it. Just bullshit it. Once I wrote down 'a tasty treat for you to munch on'. He never caught it."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Ker yawned. "Hey I'll be up and around after school. Want to go to the arcade?"

"Sure."

"Invite the others."

"Who do you mean?"

"Touji and Kensuke. Ben and Raz don't really like them, and she's been acting really strangely lately. I kinda wonder what it is."

"Ben and Raz?"

"Seniors. Couple of friends of mine. Raziel works at NERV. She's a tecchie. Works on the AVA's weapons storage systems."

"The really beautiful girl with short hair?"

"Yeah, she's real pretty. Israeli." Ker yawned hugely.

"You sure you'll be okay? You sound a bit shaky."

"Tomorrow after school? I'll be…" He said something in English that Shinji wasn't familiar with.

"What?"

"Damn." He thought for a bit. "Doubleplusgood. Sorry, I've been reading 1984. I'll be fine, assuming I sleep well."

"Bye."

"See ya tomorrow. Remember, bullshit!"

Shinji laughed and hit the end button. He started writing again. _A…tasty…treat…for …you…to…munch…on.__ I like this._

"You got finished with that quickly. Smart Shinji. I think it's your turn to cook."

"No. You were going to make your "World-Famous Curry Rice". I'm serving. Remember, Ritsuko's coming over."

Little did Shinji know how much that correction would cost his taste buds.

"So, how's school?" asked Misato as she went to the kitchen. "Made some friends?"

"A few."

"Found a girlfriend?"

Shinji blushed mightily. "MISATO!"

She grinned like the Cheshire cat. "You're too easy to tease. Come on, you're a 16-year old. You should at least think about it."

"I think about it," muttered Shinji.

"Shinji, you're in a good position for it."

"Nani?"

"You're a pilot. Everyone swarmed you when that came out right?"

"Kinda."

"Yes they did. I know exactly what happened. I'm glad you two straightened it out."

"Oh…I don't know. Ker doesn't want the fact that he's a pilot to get out."

"Yeah." Misato started cooking the rice. "Well, Ker's got this thing about the whole hero worship deal. He also doesn't seem to like being one of the 'popular' kids. I suppose it goes with his past."

"Hmm?"

"Ask him if you want to know."

"Maybe. But why would I want someone who only goes out with me because I'm a pilot?"

"Would you? Look, Shinji, I seriously don't want you doing this, but you probably could go playboy on your class, sex and all."

"Isn't that…hollow?"

She nodded as she started on the curry. "Like a balloon. But, in the face of the Angels, never knowing when you're going to die, it could be tempting."

"I don't think I'll ever do that."

"I hope not. I think you need to find someone who isn't worshipful of your pilot status. And you'll need to have an attraction to them…"

"I'm not entirely naïve, Misato," sighed Shinji, "I've already had one relationship."

"Good one?"

"No."

"Well, I hope you find a good one here. It's the least life could do for you, with your job." The doorbell rang. "That must be Ritsuko. You mind getting it? I'll be done soon."

"Sure." Shinji got up and walked to the door to let in Ritsuko, who was wearing a modest, but nice, tank top and vest combo in dark blue and white. "Hello Dr."

"Hello Shinji. Just call me Ritsuko."

"Okay. Dinner will be ready soon. I'm going to go check on it." Shinji walked into the kitchen where Misato was microwaving something…a cup of instant ramen?

Pen-pen tugged at Shinji's pant leg and 'warked' at his empty food dish. "Don't worry Pen-pen, you get to share food with us tonight." He was completely unprepared for the water fowl's response to the news as Pen-pen 'ducked and covered', warking up a storm. Shinji sweatdropped. Misato's cooking hadn't been horrible all those time he had tried it before. Then, it _had _been instant. He shook his head. No big deal. His stomach was ironclad. His 'uncle' couldn't cook well either. 

"So Ritsuko, how've you been?"

"Busy. You know the feeling."

"Oh yeah." 

Shinji served Ritsuko, Pen-pen and himself. "Misato?"

"Oh. Here, pass me the curry." Shinji handed it over. Misato started pouring it in her ramen. "This is how curry ramen should be! Thick like a sludge." She broke her chopsticks apart. "Let's eat!"

Ritsuko and Shinji took their first bites at the same time, and both got the same grimace. "Misato cooked, didn't she?" asked Ritsuko in a strained voice.

"You can tell?" Shinji's voice was having the same troubles.

"Of course." They heard a thump from in the kitchen. "What was that?"

Misato sucked in a thick curtain of 'curry with ramen'. "Don't know." She chugged her first can of Yebisu. "Good stuff."

_I beg to differ, _thought the other two humans. The penguin would've too, had it not been out cold.

"Hey, Shinji, would you get me another Yebisu?" asked Misato. Shinji nodded and got up, bringing back the fresh can and another pair.

"Cute how you have him as an errand boy," commented Ritsuko, "Oh, I almost forgot again. Shinji, can you get this to Rei?" She dug around in her purse.

"What is it?" Ritsuko handed him a pair of mag swipe cards.

"Rei's permanent security card. Yours too."

Shinji stared at the pair of cards, slightly fanned, reading the information and looking at the pictures, interested. "Hmm, Shinji, I think we've found the one."

"What!?"

"You were staring at Rei's picture."

"I was not!" He sat down abruptly, looking across the table at the drunken Misato. "Stop teasing me!"

"But I love too. You're so easy to tease."

"Just like Misato back in our college days."

"What!?"

As the old college friends bickered, Shinji took another look at the cards, pictures next to one another. _Maybe.__ She did say she wanted to talk with me some more. _

"Yeah, sure we'll come. We'll meet you outside the gates after school."

Shinji smiled. "Good. Hey, guys, I've got to go talk to someone. You mind?"

"Go," said Kensuke, "It's not a big deal. Go pick from your harem."

_Maybe Misato's right,_ thought Shinji as he walked away, noticing the stares of quite a few people, most of them female. He shook his head and continued walking towards where he heard Rei Ayanami ate.

It wasn't too hard to get to, but you did have to be fairly observant to notice the roof access stairwell. Besides, it was considered to be Ayanami's 'territory'. No one wanted to mess with her. Something about her just seemed…well…no one quite knew. She was an enigma. And one that Shinji had a little inroad in.

"Hello, Ikari."

That was really creepy, but he bet Ker could do that too. Maybe he could too after a while. "Hello, Ayanami."

The girl turned around to face him. "What are you doing here?"

Shinji dug the card out of his pants pocket. "Ritsuko asked me to give you this. Your security card. I also thought we could…talk now. You said…"

"Yes, I think I might enjoy that."

Silence. Shinji scuffed his shoe, not knowing what to say.

"Why are you not sitting?"

"You didn't invite me."

"This is public property."

"But it wouldn't be polite."

Rei nodded to the roof near her. Shinji got it and sat down. "What do we talk about?"

"I don't really know. Should I tell you something about myself?"

"Why?"

"We're both EVA pilots. Wouldn't you feel better if your life was in my hands if you knew something about me?"

"I do know something about you," she stated matter-of-factly.

Shinji was surprised. "What?"

"I read NERV files."

"Isn't that boring?"

"Yes. But I don't have anything better to do, and they are potentially helpful."

"But wouldn't you rather do something fun?"

"I am sorry, Ikari, but 'fun' has not been much of a factor in my upbringing. Maybe." There almost seemed to be something behind that statement.

"Would you stop calling me Ikari?" 

"Why?" asked an incredulous Rei.

"It makes me sound like I'm my father."

"You do not like that?"

"Why should I?"

"He is your father, is he not?"

"Not a very good one," muttered Shinji.

"Excuse me?"

"What, you think he's a good father?"

"He is the only one I know." 

"What?"

Rei handed him back her card. The text after 'Guardian' read 'Ikari, Gendo'. Shinji just stared in disbelief. "I have no other to compare him with."  

"Wh…why? Did he remarry?"

"No. I was adopted at six."

"But why?"

"To make amends."

"Hardly amends," spat Shinji bitterly, "Ayanami, would you like to do something fun?"

"That sounds…acceptable."

After the other three had gotten over their surprise to find the azure-haired Ayanami standing with Shinji after school, they had set off, to the cadence of some good-natured ribbing.

"So Shinji," said Kensuke, nudging him with his elbow, "I see what you said about not wanting our help. You don't need it!"

"It's not like that Kensuke."

"Sure, and you didn't want to check on her in the hospital after the first battle," teased Ker.

"Oh, shut up."

"Hey, guys, we're here."

"I'll see you guys in the shooters. If anyone wants to play a dual game with me, just ask," pronounced Ker, pantomiming spinning a pistol on his finger.

"TEKKEN!" yelled Touji as he barreled towards the machine.

"That's predictable," commented Kensuke, "I'll be on Gauntlet."

Shinji looked over at the girl. "What about you?"

"I don't know. What do you enjoy?"

"Uh, DanceDanceRevolution?" 

Ker spun around from where he was considering the options. "DDR? Woot!"

Rei looked at a game with an extremely large rifle in front of it. "I will try that one."

_Silent Scope 2?_thought Shinji. "That's kinda creepy."

"I'm sorry? What?"

"Nothing." 

"Hmm, rather, that one." It was House of the Dead 3. "Will you assist?"

"Of course." They walked over and picked up the shotguns, paying their money. Ker was standing right next to them on Crisis Zone.

"Zombie blasting couple, huh?"

"Would you stop?"

Rei cocked the gun in the traditional 'bad-ass' manner, one-handed. "The game is about to start."

"Zombies to kill, Shin-man." Ker put in his money on CZ and snugged the MP-5 peripheral up to his shoulder. "And it's open season on terrorists for me."

It turned out that the NERV pilots were all damn good at shooters. The arcade had never had anyone play through the entire game on one credit.

Well, except for Touji and his beloved fighting games. "Bring it on suckers! I got plenty for you!" he crowed as he kicked digital ass and forgot the names. Kensuke, done with Gauntlet, playing solo, just watched as Touji beat on all comers. 

Back in the shooting game section, Ker moved past a number of motion-capture games to find a sword-fighting simulator in the same vein. It was called Twin Swords: Path of the Warrior. It seemed it had a co-op mode, even if the title referred to the dai-sho set of the samurai. Ker shrugged and got into the cage. A workout would be good for him after being cooped up in his apartment for the better part of two days. He looked around, noticing there were a number of different bladed weapons to choose from. A fairly tall Japanese girl got into the linked cage.

"You want to play co-op?"

Ker shrugged. "Sure, but I've never played before."

"It's pretty easy if you know how to sword fight. I'm Izumi Tanaka."

"Ker Selais. Haven't I seen you at school?"

"Junior. I'm in kendo club. Pretty good, if I do say so myself."

"Sophomore. You'll definitely do better than me then, but I'll try."

"Right. Well, there are a few different weapon sets. Ninja has the ninja-to and throwing stars. Samurai is obvious." 

"Dai-sho?"

"Yeah. Wanderer has the katana and a long tanto. Policemen have a saber and jo. Mercenaries have a pair of tantos and a spear. That's it."

"I think I'll use the wanderer."

"Okay. Third from the left. Medium difficulty okay?"

"Yeah. What are you going to be?"

"Samurai."

They paid and put on the helmets, picking up their weapon sets. After a short introduction, the game started. The two players were looking at the river. The samurai was tall and proud, the epitome of Japanese manliness. The wanderer on the other hand…short and red-haired. The cross-scar was cool though. Come to think of it, he'd probably be labeled bish. (A/N: Kenshin!) "Why do I have a urge to label my attacks with dragon monikers and call the school Hiten Mitsurugi?" muttered Ker, "Oro." (A/N: Rurouni Kenshin doesn't exist in this universe.) They both unsheathed their katanas and turned around, for an attack that was sure to come.

There!  A posse of men attacked, armed with jo. The katanas made short work of them. "Never played this game before, huh?"

"Never." Ker blocked a slash from a new attacker, a merc. He cut the head off the spear and then lunged in for the kill. "Bloody."

"Fun." She finished off her opponent. "Ninjas next. Then we go to the 360 fight."

"Free-for-all?"

"Free-for-all." They killed the ninjas quickly and then got into the real meat of the game.

Blades flashed and clanged. The pair battled on through odds that would be deadly in real life, but were survivable in a game. Calling out warnings, the two digital swordfighters played on, drawing quite a crowd. Grunts and cries issued from the fighter's mouths Then, the inevitable. A thrust got through Izumi's guard, killing her character. She stood motionless as her score was tallied up. A personal record, and the current high score. She took off her helmet and walked out of the cage to watch Ker continue fighting.

It was amazing to watch, his style flipping between many different stances, far more than the four in kendo. Tanaka played with her ponytail, as she had a habit of doing when watching a match. That was how he flipped stances so easily! He held the sword by the base. Extremely flexible, and she realized, he was damn fast. The game had quite a bit of trouble taking him down, finally requiring _fourteen _swordsmen, all on high-level schools. When he finally was killed by a number of cuts, he nearly slumped to the ground, his breathing so heavy that it drowned out the music in the background.  He got the high score, without a doubt, a well-deserved one. He entered KER, instead of initials. When he finally caught his breath, he stepped out of the cage, smiling widely. "Guess I tried too hard, huh?"

She looked at him, astounded. It wasn't often that people didn't gloat over beating her. "You thought about joining kendo club?"

He shook his head. "That was hardly kendo."

"We now do free-fighting with all kinds of practice weapons. More like a swordsperson club."

"I'm not that good."

"Bullshit."

"Hey Touji," deadpanned Ker.

"That was frickin amazing. When did you learn to do that?"

"When do you think?"

Touji shut up. Izumi looked a little confused, but shook it off. "Suzihara here is right. You are amazing."

"Okay, I'll ask the counselor."

"Screw that, I'm vouching for you. Next Tuesday after school, okay?"

"Sure. See you then."

"Bye." Izumi walked off.

"So, gypsy-boy, deciding to sample one of one of Japan's fine kendo girls?"

"You have to be kidding me."

"Sure looked like it," said Kensuke, walking up. "Nice moves with that sword, man."

"Well, Veras taught me well. Where's Shinji?"

"DDR," answered the other two.

Ker got a face-splitting grin. "This I gotta see."

Shinji had quite a crowd too, maybe not as large as the one that had been at Twin Swords, but it was not often you found a person with that much sword skill. On the other hand, it wasn't often you found a person with as much skill at DDR as Shinji. It was a new version, but the Shin-man was scoring full perfect on the hard songs, first time through. And he didn't neglect his upper body, like some DDR players. It was fully into dance mode too. No Riverdance for the Ikari clan. The applause was thunderous when he finished a song. Ker looked at Touji and Kensuke and nodded at Rei, mouthing: "Ayanami needs to dance."

The other two nodded and they made their way through the crowd towards the azure-haired girl, who seemed almost entranced by Shinji's masterful dancing. Touji and Kensuke grabbed her and lead her out to the space around Shinji as he decided what song to do next. Ker walked alongside. "Hey, Shinji!" yelled Ker, catching the other boy's attention, "Ayanami here wants to learn."

Shinji blushed. "Su…sure," he said as Kensuke and Touji positioned Rei on the pad. 

Ker paid for her and stepped back, turning around. "Nothing to see here, folks, just a little lesson." The crowd dispersed, grumbling a little. "Let's play some pool." The others walked away, leaving the 'sensei' and student alone.

"Okay Ayanami, do you know how to play at all?"

"No."

"The object is to hit the correct footpad at the right time, as shown by the screen."

"I understand."

"The point is to dance as well as one can in the form it gives you. So just don't use your legs. Do what feels natural around the steps you're told to do."

"I understand."

"We'll do 'My Little Samurai'. It's an easy song that doesn't use the back pad."

"Right."

Kensuke was really, really good at pool. He had some uncanny knack to calculate the most perfect shots. Ker and Touji got themselves whipped two times each, before Ker took a look over at where they had left Ayanami and Shinji. They were talking, and it looked like there was a tinge to Rei's cheeks. Ker smiled and got back to the game he was playing against Touji. They had finally convinced Kensuke to pick on some other people so they could play a game in which they had a sporting chance. Touji was actually the better of the two, but Ker was having a good day. Kensuke decided just to watch them, sitting on a bench. Then he noticed a girl. "Whoa. Hey, Touji."

"Eight ball, side pocket." He potted the ball in. "What is it, Ken?"

"Look at her," he breathed, nodding at the girl.

Touji looked. And liked. Shoulder length auburn hair, shapely long legs, a gorgeous body, and a great-looking face. She was wearing a yellow sundress and hunched in determination over a crane game.

Kensuke just stared. "Oh, totally my type."

"Looks about our age, too." Touji handed off the cue to Ker. "What do you think about her, Ker?"

"She's…hot," he commented in a tone that made it clear he was paying lip service.

The tone was totally lost on the other two boys. "Let's go over there! Maybe she'll be nice," said Kensuke, tempting fate.

"I'm surprised you two aren't trying to see her panties," stated Ker sarcastically, "What with this area being sunken and all. Guess you two aren't really perverts like the girls sa…I take that back." He sweatdropped.

Kensuke and Touji thought this was a grand idea. Ker pushed up his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Oy vey."

"Damn. Can't see em," complained Kensuke, "C'mon, let's go."

Touji and Kensuke walked towards the girl as Shinji and Rei walked up behind the slowly following Ker. "What's going on?"

"They couldn't see her panties, so now they're going to talk to Big Red up there."

"I do not understand."

"Probably a good thing, Ayanami," decided Ker.

"Definitely," agreed Shinji. The trio stopped about 7 feet back from the other teens.

That was about when the prize slipped from the claw. It had already happened 12 times. Thirteen's a real lucky number, ne?

Not for a certain prize-grabber game. "SHIT! Stupid machine!" cursed the girl as she kicked it. Not a good thing to do in a light cotton sundress. It fairly floated up, giving the whole arcade a nice view. Touji and Kensuke were just the closest. Ker groaned, Shinji blushed, and Rei was impassive. 

Touji had a sane thought: _Too bad about her personality._

Kensuke didn't. "Cool…"

"My last token," muttered the girl in what Ker recognized as German. She spun around and jabbed her finger at the two Japanese boys. "You two! 300 yen each."

"What!?" yelled Touji.

"Cool. She's hitting us up," mumbled Kensuke in a shaky voice.

"It's a peeping fee. You two saw my panties. Quite a bargain."

"Don't get up on a high horse because you think you're cute!" yelled Touji as he grabbed her arm. 

"Bets on this not ending well?" asked Ker of Shinji.

The girl ripped her arm out of Touji's grip, stumbling into the bar. She knocked a biker's drink over onto him. "Oh, sorry."

"Bitch! I'm going to teach you the meaning of pain."

She kicked him in the face, knocking him to the ground. "Don't need to. It's easy enough to read about on your face."

He sat up, rubbing his jaw. "Let's have some fun, boys. Take down all those teenagers."

Yes, in Tokyo-3, biker gangs hung out in arcades. Ker looked at the two pool cues in his hand and handed one off to Shinji, before gripping the remaining cue like a quarterstaff or jo. "Combat training, real world style," he grunted as the first of the bikers ran at him.

Wham! The thick end of the cue slammed into the lead goon's face, making a nice red mark. He flew into a Soul Calibur machine, laying in a crumpled heap. Ker snorted at the irony and moved forward, spinning the cue two-handed, switching sides of his body before going into the classic 'one-arm angled support, other arm bring-it-on' pose. Veras had taught him to grandstand too. The next goon got the skinny end in what with a spear, would be an impaling blow. He folded over the cue, and Ker axe kicked him to put the punk out cold. He moved on to the next biker, without missing a beat.

When a knot of the bikers attacked her and Shinji, Rei hip threw the first, before flipping him with a kick and punching him in the face. Shinji bent the cue, emulating something he saw in a movie, before letting go of the skinny end, whipping the biker in the side of the head. He then used his minimal jo training to slam the man over the head with the heavy end. He hit the guy exceptionally hard, as the cue broke over the guy's head. He scaled the end he was holding at another guy, before trying the sweep kick his pilot training had given him. It worked perfectly, depositing the guy on his back. Shinji delivered an elbow to the face and looked for another target.

He was attacking Rei. The biker threw a powerful haymaker that Rei lithely avoided. While the goon was off-balance, Shinji slammed his head into the nearest machine, Drummania. In a moment of rare inspiration, he quipped, "Play it again, Sam."

He thought he saw the ghost of a smile on Rei's lips. She had watched _Casablanca_? Go figure. Either that or _Moonraker_.

Touji, meanwhile, gave his opponent a powerful jab combo before rattling his teeth with a left hook, and nearly snipping his tongue of with an uppercut. He ducked a kick and delivered a right cross to the next guy.

The girl was a dervish of kicks and flips, switching between bikers quickly, before picking up a stool and bashing them with it, taunting them all the while.

Kensuke was the only one having troubles. His fighting skill was zilch, so the one guy that came after him was more than enough. He was having a hard enough time avoiding and blocking punches. It came as a relief when a pool cue slammed into the guy's head, blunt end first. Kensuke scurried in between a pair of machines.

Ker didn't even hold the throw pose for more than a second, spinning around into a kick that snapped a guy's head back, launching him into the swing of the redhead's stool. He noticed another goon threatening a blonde with her hair in a long braid. He dashed up in front of her as the guy swung, catching the incoming arm by the wrist, twisting it a certain way to break it, before driving his fist into the biker's gut and snapping his elbow up to tag the goon in the chin. A devastating move he last employed against the Fourth Angel. As the biker went down, he spun around in his crouched combat stance…only to find himself staring into a pair of rather beautiful brown eyes. He realized there were no more bikers conscious and straightened up.

"What was that?" asked the girl.

"Extension of duties, albeit an enjoyable one." _Where the fuck did that come from?_

"What?"

"I like to fight." _Never mind that my face shows I don't, _he thought, scratching the back of his head.

"Right," she said in a tone that left no doubt to the fact that she didn't believe him. "Well, thanks. Quite chivalrous." The last word had only a slight ting of sarcasm. Ker, being a longtime master of such, was the only one that caught it. She turned around and walked out of the arcade.

Touji walked up behind Ker. "She's right, you know, that was pretty chivalrous." He laughed. "Rescue the damsel in distress and you don't even get her name. Like blondes, huh?"

Ker backfisted him. "Shut up." He sighed. "I like dark hair."

"Ow," groaned Touji from the floor.

Ker pulled him up by his arm. The red-haired girl walked over. "Looks like you idiots can fight. Nice."

Ker gave her a nasty look. "You don't have to enjoy fights, you know." He walked over and retrieved the unbroken cue, bashing the biker on the head to make sure he was out. "It's safe, Kensuke."

The sandy-blonde boy stood up and walked out. "That's far too much excitement for one day."

"Tell me about it," said Touji, rubbing his cheek, "What a brawl."

"Bigger the better," said the rather annoying redhead. Ker sighed. "It's been a while since I got into a good fight like that without the cops busting up." Sirens sounded nearby.

"You are a fucking moron," deadpanned Ker, seriously considering using the cue till it broke. After that, he wasn't sure what he would do, but he was sure it wouldn't be pleasant. 

The arrival of the Tokyo-3 Municipal Police (Section 2 washouts) precluded the severe beating.

"Look, I just want to know what happened. We have the whole incident on tape, but I want your report."

Ker, chosen as the spokesman, sighed. "During an argument between Touji and Big Red, which she started, he grabbed her wrist. She chose to break his grip in a forceful manner, resulting in her stumbling into a biker gang leader. He then insulted and threatened her, after which she kicked him in the face. He told the gang to take us all down. Self-defense from there. If there are any responsible except for the bikers, I can only think of Big Red."

"That hardly matters," scoffed the girl. 

"I think it does," retorted the officer.

"No, it doesn't," she said with a haughty tone, "I'm Asuka Langely Soryu, and as the Second Child, an employee of NERV, am above the law in cases such as this!"

"Bitch," chorused the teenage males in the room, outside of Kensuke.

"Dear God," murmured Kensuke.

Rei shook her head. "NERV is above the law, not its members. With the amount of pilots in the city at this time, NERV might just leave you to your fate to make sure there is no further foolishness."

"And what would you know about it, you blue-haired tramp?"

"I am Rei Ayanami, First Child, and pilot of EVA 00."

"Oh. Well, that explains where you got your mediocre combat skills. Feh, relying on your boyfriend."

"This is Shinji Ikari, the Third Child."

"This is pathetic! What is NERV doing, with such a lame bunch of pilots? At least they don't waste the true combat EVAs on you." She haughtily jerked her head towards Ker. "At least he'd come close to a match to me."

Ker narrowed his eyes and leapt at her, kicking her in the thigh, before walking a series of punches up her torso. Her first attack went far too high, unbalancing her. She fell to the floor, Ker grabbing her arms and pinning them behind her back, holding her down. "Don't presume to know how well I can fight," he growled. "And don't presume to think you can at all."

_That couldn't be him, _thought Touji, _Even before Ken and I were friends with him, he was a good-natured loner, if a sarcastic one. This guy is more like an assassin. _

During the rush of action, Shinji caught a glimpse of metal underneath Ker's jacket. _I wonder what that is?_

The officer just looked on in amazement. "I think I'll just call NERV now."

Misato just laughed. "You got in a brawl at the arcade!"

"Yeah."

"So how was your time at the arcade?"

Shinji smiled a little smile. "Good." He remembered the 'lesson' he gave to Rei, and her reaction.

            "Thank you, Shinji."

Shinji looked at the blue-haired girl. "What?"

"Thank you, for teaching me to dance."

"I didn't teach you to dance. I just taught you to play this game." Shinji leaned against the bar on the platform. "Dancing is just a way of expressing your emotions, I guess."

"Still, I thank you. It is…fun." Her cheeks had a light pink tinge.

"You're welcome, Ayanami."

"Please, call me Rei. I think…I think I would like to be friends with you." Shinji could clearly see the blush that spread across her face.

"Okay…Rei."

Misato smiled. "So what games did you play?"

"Virtual On, House of the Dead 3 and…"

"Oh! I used to love that game! I really liked those huge shotguns. Great fun. Anything else?"

"DDR," Shinji smiled again, "DDR."

"And then you got into the fight?"

"Yeah." It was strange. Shinji had gotten in fights before, but they had always been bad memories. This one almost seemed…good. Maybe it was because he won, maybe it was…he didn't know.

"You did pretty well. All of you."

"Yeah, but Ker was the best. He's like a reluctant demon when he's fighting."

"Reluctant demon, Shinji?"

"Well, he doesn't seem to like it, but…"

"I know. You know the guy with the long blue hair, like Rei's?"

"Yeah?"

"That's Kit Veras. He once took down 25 Cherubim with a pistol, knife, katana, and his bare hands. He was an old friend of the project head at Arirx, so when he got out of the Marines, he became Ker's combat instructor."

"25 Cherubim?"

"Yeah. Now, Shinji, he was going to be the AVA's original pilot."

"Why couldn't he?"

"The AVA runs on the energy of one's soul. So does the Raptor, come to think of it. The pilot powers the machine with their own spirit energy, which is amplified by the AVA. The original designs for this system were deadly. A person's soul would be sucked away in an instant. Veras was the only one to survive more than a second. The new design requires a very special kind of soul. Ker has one of them. They've only showed up in a pair of 16-year olds, and one 13-year old."

"Three people?"

"Yes. And the new design requires as specific mutation passed down through only a very few bloodlines, mostly Gypsy ones."

"Oh. So Ker learned to fight from…"

"Fate himself, or so he is called. Demon isn't the half of it. Veras was considered the perfect soldier. More like killer."

"And Ker doesn't want to be a killer?"

"Does anyone?"

"There are serial killers."

"True. But that's hardly Ker. His mind doesn't work like most humans."

"What?"

Misato sighed. "Not now. It's late, and we'd better get some sleep."

"Righ…Oh, Misato, one last thing?"

"What?"

"When Ker took that girl down, I saw metal inside his jacket. Do you know what that was?"

"Probably a K-bar fighting knife. Veras gave it to him for protection. That jacket he wears has pockets for weapons in it. I've got one too."

"Oh. Goodnight Misato."

"`Night, Shinji."

Ker lay back on his bed, clad only in boxers. _What a busy day. Guess I should bring one of my shinai to school tomorrow. _He got up and walked to what was meant to be the second bedroom, but was in practice the weapons room. Two katana, one wakizashi, one tanto, two ninja-to, one naginata, a kiris knife, six jo staffs, two bokken simulating a dai-sho set, five shinai of varying lengths, the two katana with no edges for practice, and the sakabato which he would never use due to his habit of bracing the blade. An impressive stock, but he would never sleep in there, for fear of some of the…'cutlery' falling on him during the night. That would be rather painful. Probably deadly too. He picked out the shinai that simulated a 29-inch blade katana and lay it next to the bag he took to school, before walking back to his bed and laying down for another night's sleep.

Ed's Gear's night vision painted the scene in black and white. It was not the traditional green-and-black gear but what Nova Industries had dubbed 'Starlight', a revolutionary new form of nightvision, up to three times better than the old gear.

Sometimes though, there just wasn't anything to see. Ed swept the barrel of his heavy anti-air cannon across his field of vision, covering for the rest of his squad. Anti-air cannon was somewhat of a misnomer. It was just a very fast-firing autocannon favored by the Shoulder Devils for its ability to take down Cherubim very quickly, even if it was a 180-proof bitch for ammo consumption. Ed also had a second cannon, in a lighter caliber and a 48-rocket pack on one of his shoulders. For desperate circumstances, he had a short vibrosword slung on one of the Gear's hips. If it got to hand-to hand combat though, he was probably screwed.

"Anyone seen anything?" he asked of the other squad members impatiently.

"Landscape," grunted another of the pilots.

"Where are they?" Ed asked of no one in particular.

"Ker! Hey Ker!"

"What is it Ben?" asked the still-sleepy Gypsy.

"Can I have a favor?"

"Sure."

"You know how I'm supervising the middle school class trip?"

"The week-long one?"

"Yeah. Well, you see, my little sister just came into town yesterday and I'm really embarrassed because…"

"You'd never have agreed to be a chaperone if you knew she would be coming into town this week," finished Ker, holding up a hand, "I know, I know. Cut to the chase."

"Well, since I can't show her round school, do you think you could? She's in your class."

"Fine."

"What's with the bamboo sword?"

"I've been invited into kendo club."

"Who by?"

"Izumi…Tana…shi? No. Shit."

"Izumi Tanaka? Damn. Gonna go out with her?"

Ker gave him a nasty look. "Do you want me to demonstrate why I got invited?"

"What is it with you and girls? Demonstrate only on someone if they threaten Lee, okay?"

"Fine. Where is she?"

"Lee! Hey Lee! Get over here!"

A blonde girl turned around and walked towards them. Wait a second! _Blonde?_

"Ker, I'd like you to meet my little sister, Leslie Mitchell. Lee, he'll be showing you around. Unless you want me to stay…"

Ker looked on incredulously. "Oh, don't worry, Ben," said Leslie , "I'm sure he'll be quite chivalrous."

And that's the third real story chapter of NERV: ADA. A little more revealing on Ker's part, and the start of a friendship (or two, or three). I hope you liked the scenes in the arcade. They were the most fun to write. I might write an action/romance one-shot based on the arcade events. (I cut a lot of the original text as it was something like 3 pages for Ker's biker fight alone!) Well, see you next time, for more normal life, and a fight or two.

God, I love my prereader.


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